NEW OPPORTUNITIES FROM NEW IDEAS
British Columbia’s impressive innovation capacity is built on close collaboration between private companies and public research institutions.
More than 9,200 technology firms with 75,000 highly skilled workers are integrated into a global innovation network through alliances and partnerships.
Our universities, technical institutions and publicly-funded research organizations house more than 50 research centres spanning software engineering, micro-electronics, manufacturing systems, e-learning, biotechnology, and alternative energy systems.
British Columbia’s University-Industry Liaison Offices are highly entrepreneurial and have helped launch over 225 spin-off companies, and actively promote the commercialization of university-created intellectual property.
TECHNOLOGY LEADERS INNOVATE HERE
Many leading companies are already levering British Columbia’s knowledge assets and cost advantages through R&D operations, technology partnerships, and intellectual property acquisitions:
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Microsoft recently chose Richmond, B.C. for its first-ever Development Centre in Canada |
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Electronic Arts, the world’s top electronics games developer, has its largest development studio in Vancouver |
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Nokia’s N-Gauge division head office is here. So is IBM’s largest international innovation centre. |
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Other global technology players - companies like Intel, PMC-Sierra, Epson, Alcatel, McKesson, Honeywell Oracle-PeopleSoft, Broadcom, and BusinessObjects - have key research and product development centres in British Columbia |
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Home-grown companies and research institutions are partnering with the top names in biotechnology and biopharma - Novartis Opthalmics (QLT), Aventis Pharma (Inflazyme), Roche (Stessgen), Boston Scientific (Angiotech), Merck (Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics), and Bayer HealthCare (Centre for Blood Research), Galencia Group (Aspreva) |
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Intel’s research centre in Vancouver is designing next generation Flash memory chips for cellular and embedded market segments |
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INNOVATION EXCELLENCE – A SAMPLE SHOWCASE
Life Sciences
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QLT’s Visudyne® is the only drug approved for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). www.qltinc.com |
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VSM MedTech’s revolutionary medical imaging system, magnetoencephalography (MEG), is the most advanced technology of its type in the world. www.vsmmedtech.com |
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The Centre for Blood Research, the world’s largest facility dedicated to transfusion science, is leading the development of donor-free blood products in partnership with Bayer HealthCare. www.cbr.ubc.ca |
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Breakthrough research at ICORD (International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries Centre) has demonstrated that nerve cells previously believed to be dysfunctional after spinal cord injury are capable of regeneration up to one year post-injury. |
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Researchers at the B.C. Cancer Agency were the first to successfully map the SARS Corona virus genome. A B.C. led consortium – the SARS Accelerated Vaccine Initiative –
is currently developing a SARS vaccine. www.bccancer.bc.ca |
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POWER TECHNOLOGIES
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Ballard Power Systems, headquartered in Vancouver, is the world leader in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell products. www.ballard.com |
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The Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation in Vancouver has developed the world’s smallest and most powerful micro fuel cell, capable of powering a cellular phone or MP3 player. http://ifci-iipc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca |
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The B.C. Hydrogen Highway™, a large-scale demonstration program designed to accelerate the commercialization of hydrogen and fuel-cell technologies, is now underway. Full implementation is targeted for 2010, when British Columbia hosts the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. www.hydrogeneconomy.gc.ca |
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ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY
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Forintek Canada’s sawmilling lab is using sophisticated computed tomography technology to develop advanced scanning systems that detect internal defects in logs prior to cutting. www.forintek.ca |
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Honeywell’s Vancouver Center of Excellence develops and manufactures some of the world’s most sophisticated optimization and control systems for the pulp and paper industry. www.honeywell.com |
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Braintech, winner of the 2003 Henry Ford Technology Award, produces the most advanced vision technologies currently available for industrial robotics applications. www.braintech.com |
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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
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MDA MacDonald Dettwiler, one of British Columbia’s largest home-grown technology firms, is a globally recognized provider of information systems and products. MDA has developed software systems for the US Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. www.mda.ca |
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WebCT, the platform of choice for delivering e-learning programs, was developed at the University of British Columbia. www.webct.com |
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Opened in 2001, the University of British Columbia's System on Chip (SoC) Research Lab was the first facility in North America dedicated to the design, testing and verification of SoC technology, and is an acknowledged leader in this field. http://soc.ece.ubc.ca |
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Nokia's Vancouver Product Creation Centre is playing a leading role in developing 3G handsets with advanced multimedia capabilities. www.nokia.com |
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Sierra Wireless, an industry leader in wide area wireless data products, supplies AirCard and related wireless data modules to virtually all major cellular operators.
www.sierrawireless.com |
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Norsat's NewsLink portable satellite terminals are used by major news organizations around the world for their satellite news gathering (SNG) operations. www.norsat.com |
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AGRI-FOOD TECHNOLOGY
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Forbes Meditech in partnership with PhytoSource LP, is the leading producer of tall oil phytosterols for the food industry, developing innovative cholesterol-lowering ingredients for functional foods and dietary supplements. www.forbesmedi.com |
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“GrapeGen” is a collaborative research initiative at the University of British Columbia investigating the genomic mechanisms controlling berry ripening and quality in grapes. www.agsci.ubc.ca/wine |
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FreshXtend is the world’s leading modified atmospheric packaging technology, which allows product shelf-life extension through natural processes. www.freshxtend.com |
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